When it comes to cooking and our kitchens, I guess we all have things we do that may make other folks raise an eyebrow. Here are mine:
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| I saw this type of cheese made in the town of Gruyere, Switzerland. |
I only eat imported cheese. I don't eat shredded cheese because they put cellulose in the packing. I never have food allergy or tummy upset problems when I eat in Europe, thanks to their far stricter food laws. I'm trying small batch, organic American made cheeses in order to branch out but it's tough.
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| So pretty! |
I only eat brown omega cage free eggs. My body likes cage-free eggs better. No bloating. My eyes love the color. And the omegas are a bonus without having to take one more pill.
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| This scares me every time. |
I have more quirks but that will do for now. I don't want to overwhelm you!
What about you? What do you do in the kitchen or while cooking that might strike others as different, odd or unfathomable? Or do you just have some things that HAVE to be done a certain way? This is a tell-all or maybe just tell-some, so share away!
haha! Cute post.
ReplyDeleteHm. Well, I can't stand sticky counters. Even if I'm not cooking, the counters have to be clean.
I refuse to eat with anything that has been dropped in the sink, and then just rinsed off. We did a petri dish experiment one time and the sink is the dirties part of the house. Our toilet water was cleaner than the drain of the sink. (And yes, now I bleach the sink.)
I grew up using kitchen rags (cloths) and even though my sister says they're not as clean, I just can't get used to paper towels. So, bleach spray and rags to clean.
Not sure what else. I'm sure I have many. We don't use a lot of prepared food but just because I think preserved food tastes weird. Hubby grew up eating all natural so he's the same way. The kids, though, would eat Twinkies and Doritos all day if they could.
I have a love/hat affair with rags. And there is no such thing as the five second rule in my house. My family blames the microbiology degree.
DeleteI'm a big bleach user, too! Even without an experiment, I've figured the kitchen sink is pretty nasty.
DeleteTwinkies and Doritos rock, so clearly the kids are uber smart!!!!!
ReplyDeleteDo I have quirks???? (muses..... frowns...... runs to grab anti-wrinkle cream!!!!)
ReplyDeleteWell, probably not, but maybe I just don't see them. With so many folks in and out of my kitchen daily, there really isn't time for quirks, but here are a couple of pet peeves that maybe are quirks????? Beth scolds me for having dishes in the sink because it's nasty. I hate dirty dishes on the counter because I like a clean countertop. But there are times I delay loading the dishwasher because I'm in the thick of something else, and into the sink they go to be rinsed and loaded or hand-washed later. I'm not sure that's a quirk, and if it is it's probably her quirk!!!!! :) I hate stuff on my kitchen and dining room table, and the world seems to think my dining room table is a catch-all. So that's a quirk for real because growing up, you couldn't see the table except at Christmas and Easter. Just piled with stuff so high you'd think there was no end... So that's a quirk. Now that doesn't mean mine doesn't collect stuff that needs to be sorted or gone through... but I hate it!!!
I love fresh food, but I'll eat anything and grin because I love food. Julie, what the heck is a cage-free egg? Because while my chickens have room to roam, they're in a big cage and that's where they're staying because chicken poop all over the place is beyond nasty... But you mean the long caged rows of white hens, producing commercial eggs, I expect....
It's interesting that when you go to websites, the animal activists have the same pictures of a VERY DEPRESSING egg farm that some employee most likely took before quitting.... and then the national egg board pics show the opposite in their study, of a cleaner farm and egg laying set up....
I honestly love my fresh eggs, but I also understand commercial farming is different and having watched free range hens try to eat each other alive, (cannibalism) my respect for chickens is about as big as their brains, which is fairly nonexistent. Folks come from all over the west side of the county to buy my eggs, but those people don't mind spending $3/dozen.... and when I was a young mother, there was no way my budget stretched to that kind of expenditure, so I see both sides.
What I do love is that communities are repealing laws that made keeping 3-4 hens illegal, because that's some pretty nice eats right there!
Yesterday I spent over an hour putting together a single chicken emergency enclosure because she was being pecked by her buddies. They're drawn to "red" and her new head feathers were coming in, leaving spots of pink skin showing.... So what did these free rangers do? Started pecking at the pink every time she ducked her head to eat.
Stupid birds. So she's now in a containment cell that might thwart foxes.... (Ruthy frowns, hopeful) But at the same time I was building and wiring an emergency pen, I was realizing that big time farmers don't have the luxury of doing this kind of thing all the time....
How ironic, right?
Hahaha. Lawsy, Ruthy. I love this. I have never seen a comment this long from you before. I love the education. Me thinks you needed to let it out!
DeleteChickens can be so cruel to each other. I blame their bird brains.
DeleteI buy ranch-raised eggs. I like the nutrition and taste, and they're actually CHEAPER than Walmart!
I'd love to have my own chickens, though (city ordinance here doesn't allow it). I enjoy them. Individually.
Our town has finally allowed chickens but NO roosters in the city limits. Sigh. ManO is another story.
DeleteLOL! You know I expect it was the frustration of having my computers go haywire and then to discuss being nice to stupid birds after they tried to eat one alive yesterday.... My Politically correct Banner switched off!!!
DeleteHonestly, I will never, ever, ever feel guilty about eaching chicken. Just because I have so many of them!
Snarky Farm Girl
Julie, I started buying the cage free eggs (and free range chicken broth) after I sat at a stoplight next to a huge truck hauling chickens. I couldn't bear to see how packed in they were. So that's one of my quirks, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm also compulsive about not touching the kitchen faucet handle when I'm handling raw meat or eggs. I'll use my wrist or elbow or forearm to turn on the water. Then will use any body part to pump the soap to wash my hands. :)
I thought about mentioning that, Missy, given how I do the same and keep bleach cleaner close at hand when I've rinsed my meat into the sink. Our microbiology training has served us well and I am betting our families haven't appreciated it near enough!
DeleteFunny about the silverware. I am the same way. Now I dump it on a towel on the counter and it looks less intimidating.
ReplyDeleteI hate the smell of grease. My quirk. Absolutely cannot tolerate it.
Oh, that sounds like a good idea with the towel.
DeleteManO hates the smell of garlic. Smell for me? Hmmm I am going to have to think on it.
Smell for me.... Hard boiled eggs. I can't mash 'em, can't do deviled eggs or egg salad. I can throw one or two in potato salad and drown them out, but not on their own.... Smells are a weird thing with women.
DeleteOH, Ruthy, that's it for me too! I knew it was somewhere in my subconsciousness. Bleck.
DeleteDitto, Tina! Frying grease gives me the heebie jeebies. I saw a grease fire when I was little and hot grease smell makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I get "fight or flight" just from the scent.
DeleteHi Julie~
ReplyDeleteCute post, It feels like Confessions Anonymous (without the anonymity). Just looking at your silverware holder has me cringing. lol. Since the time my kids were small I've always taught them to load it prongs down (even though I only see spoons in yours) so the kids didn't stick themselves with the forks when it was their turn to unload and how can you unload it without touching the part you eat with if you can't reach the handles first?
Another quirk, I always load the dishwasher from the back forward, if I open it and someone else has put stuff in the front, yes, I am one of those who rework it. Makes for easy unloading once everything is group together, where it shoud be, lol.
My husband has a real thing for bleach and I'm ok with that, BUT he is not great about keeping it away from the edge of the counter and I have a whole collection of ruined tops with small bleach spots on them, ugh!
I like everything, once cleaned, put back in the designated spot. My husband? not so much, any open spot in any cabinet will due, sometimes it takes hours to find a certain bowl or tool, sometimes they never turn up, haha, needless to say, I prefer to unload dw and drain!
I'll stop there berore everyone thinks I'm too quirky and weird, but I'm sure I could come up with a lot more, at my house, it's a he did/ she did kind of life! :)
I'm with your husband on the bleach. But I wash my hands before I grab the silverware. Why do I leave the handles down? Because that is how the slots are made! Too small for the tops. I think so the utensil part dries better. And no you aren't weird!
DeleteThat makes sense about the slots, mine is an open basket giving me the choice. It's probably incorrect, but that's the way I like it :)
DeleteI miss open baskets. And the dishwasher is smaller than the older ones too.
DeleteJulie, your basket tops don't come off? What kind of madness is that?????
DeleteYou can take them off but it isn't easy. Ugh.
DeleteLol, Tracey, your first line made me snort!
DeleteTracey, I do the same thing--move dishes to the back if someone dares plop something in the front. :)
DeleteWow. I'm more normal than I thought. Ok, the real reason I have no dishwasher confessions is that I didn't have one in El Paso. I've only been really using one since we moved if you don't count the occasional loading at someone else's house. But, and this is a big but, I've taken copious notes based on this post. ;)
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have had to make some other changes since we've moved that others may consider quirky. Both the DD and D-I-L are really into organic-healthy-living-baby-wearing so we are (slowly, grudgingly) trying to join them. We are throwing around words like "range free", "essential oils", "crunchy", etc. What can I say?
Love that you have expanded your vocabulary! I am still not into the essential oils thing but am trying to catch up.
DeleteUsing the dishwasher frees up time but I like the meditative quality of handwashing for sure.
Quirky? Me? My DIL would probably think so because she laughs at the way I do some things (and have been doing them like that for 35 years--the amount of time I've been on my own/been married), whereas I just shake my head (in private) at things SHE does.
ReplyDeleteBut I've determined that I will never have any of you over to my house--to visit my kitchen and/or eat. *sigh* I am the dishwasher. And we can't afford free-range eggs, even from our church members who have a farm--and I would love to support their efforts (they also have cows, sheep, pigs, and turkeys at Thanksgiving) and eat better at the same time. Had I not been let go from the job I held for a week, that was my plan.
The one good thing about the way my kitchen looks? I haven't killed anyone.
Yet.
O:)
I'm so sorry about the job.
DeleteAs far as kitchens go, there are times mine have definitely been grade B. But they say children have better immune systems if they are exposed to dirt.
Melanie, ouch! So sorry the job didn't work out! I'm frowning!!!!
DeleteOh, Melanie, that really stinks. And you can't have your own chickens? When my husband was out of work, I daily went out to give our chickens some healthy love and some big prayers of thanksgiving. For a family of 8, those chickens helped keep us eating pretty darn great.
DeleteHmmm. I can't think of anything specifically at this time, but I don't eat shredded cheese either. Not because of allergies, but it doesn't melt right for because of whatever they put on it and that weirds me out. It's DS's job to unload the dishwasher these days. And I don't care how he puts stuff back! Great column, Julie!
ReplyDeleteManO is supposed to unload but I have to tell him more often than not. Usually I discover it after he has run out the door to work, hmmmm.
DeleteTrue about how shredded cheese melts!
Thanks, Piper!
My, oh my. All the things we've learned about our Yankee Belle Cafe friends today!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't have kitchen quirks. Only THE RIGHT WAY TO DO THINGS!!!
:)
I always load the silverware in the dishwasher business side up so that it gets cleaner.
I never use bleach, because I use ammonia in some of my cleaning products and I refuse to live in a house with both bleach and ammonia in it. (Never mix the two - it's a deadly combination!)
I change my kitchen towels every day.
I never, never thaw meat outside of the refrigerator.
But I sometimes use the same cutting board for veggies and meat - if they're going in the same pot and being cooked together. Otherwise, no way.
I clean my sink every day. Baking soda and vinegar, and then polish with a squirt of Windex and a rub with a towel.
But my biggest pet peeve - are you ready? - is when I'm washing dishes by hand and someone drops something in my dishwater. Just lay it on the counter, please, and I'll put it in myself. Thank you.
I saw a funny meme that I had to show my kids: A man with a really fierce, wide eyed expression. Under it said, "your face when someone drops in a dirty plate while you're washing dishes". LOLOLOL!
DeleteLove it, Jan. Thanks for the reminder about ammonia and bleach.
ReplyDeleteAnd I wonder that I lived to adulthood given my mom always thawed meat on the counter. Three courses in food microbiology pretty much cured me of that.
And I am rabid about towel changing too! Though ManO makes a fuss.
Julie, I admit I still thaw meat on the counter. But only if I'm using it that evening. I know, I'm a hazard. ;)
DeleteI'm terrified of frying bacon. I almost shake if it's frying and I'm manning the stove. All that popping...have to nuke mine
ReplyDeleteSusanna
I don't blame you, Susanna. I am afraid to fry anything really.
DeleteWell, we know I fry things all the time, and maybe it's being on the farm, and LOVING cooking, and Southern fried everything, including but not limited to Oreos.... and I have two huge chicken fryers, the big, deep frying pans and they're awesome.... But I LOVE that our buddy Susanna is walking and posting on facebook, and having fun with this new lease on life!!!! I'm cheering real loud up here in upstate!!!!!
DeleteThe trick with bacon is to get the pan (griddle) hot first, lay the bacon down, and then turn the heat down.... and flip it once a few minutes later, then once again to finish it off. I buy Wright's bacon at Sam's Club, the other bacons are too thin and wispy and they do snap and crackle too much and too quickly. I love Wrights.
And (don't be a hater, don't judge!!!) I thaw meat on the counter all the time.
But not directly next to the cookies. I allow a six inch border, LOL!
I had a farmer friend who raised a slew of healthy, hard-working, happy kids, and she was in Country Max one time and the girls working there were racing to wash their hands after touching the baby chicks.... In her perspective, it was hysterical because her kids generally washed up when they showed up for supper... and honestly, they were (and are) crazy healthy.
But then sometimes being exposed to more germs on a regular basis cues the body to give 'em the old one-two punch!
Bwahahaha! Six inch border!
DeleteI lived in France, where they actually prefer their meat to be left unchilled for a day. (No, really. Apparently it gives it a better flavor.) Also, they don't refrigerate cheese. So... I don't mind the counter thing.
BUT my husband grew up without electricity and some of his kitchen habits drive me batty. He'll boil chicken in a pot (with mint leaves and some tomatoes- it's pretty tasty) and then just leave the lid on. He doesn't put it in the fridge. Next day, he boils it for about ten minutes. He's never died. But I don't let my kids eat it the second time. Just the first round. I think he acquired an iron stomach in childhood an my precious babies haven't yet.
Thanks Ruthy...mon and tues nights only managed 20 and 15 min but tonight after seeing this I walked 40 min around the townhomes and only 2 comments on Facebook so far are be careful and ditto..sigh..prefer more walkers around but had to get in my walk and first chane I've had today.
DeleteSusanna
Good for you, Susanna!
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